Beach Megapost

Well, you could say I'm slightly behind on updating this blog. I think we've finally exited the haze of "morning" sickness and back problems that we've been in during May & June, so maybe I'll put up pictures more often than once a quarter. We'll see! ;)


We had a great time with my parents and sister at Amelia Island last week. We stayed in a 3-bedroom condo and went to the pool, beach, local eateries, ice cream shops (of course!), and enjoyed some nature over the course of the week.

This is the view from our balcony.

Vinny's waving bye-bye to the helicopter overhead. He loves all things that go -- school buses, garbage trucks, motorcyles . . . . in fact, he loved reading a Hot Rod magazine that Grandpa brought with him, so Grandpa sent it home with Vinny. He will sit on the couch and flip through the whole thing.

Grandma & Auntie soaking up some rays. Ha ha. We all wore the kids' 45 sunblock the whole week. And, there were no sunburns!

Daddy, Ashley, Vinny & Grandpa having a little snack before going back into the pool.

Come on, act like ya like each other!

Ashley loved playing in the water with Auntie (and anyone else who would help her jump the waves!). She did a great job swimming in the pool, too. Daddy did a great job with water acclimation in the big pool. By the end of the week, she was swimming with just the little floaties on her arms.
Vinny loved playing in the sand! He was not too interested in the ocean until the last day. We finally just set him down in the sand right before a "wave" touched his toes, and then he loved it!
Once, somebody was commenting to me how tiny Ashley was (she's still in the 5-10th percentile in height and weight). Then, Vinny toddled right over, and you realize she's not as small as you thought. :)

We experienced a wind/sand storm on this last venture to the beach the night before we left. Talk about the wind-blown look!

We celebrated Father's Day while we were there, too. Ashley & Vinny couldn't wait to watch the race with Grandpa.Grandma taught Ashley how to play Go Fish during the week. This was a big hit!

They had a little place called Aury Island, with a few little trails and a pirate ship-shaped playground. This was a fun little outing one night after dinner (while Grandma & Grandma were out on their date).

This is one of the views from Aury Island. It was a pretty place, but beware of the mosquitos.

I think this picture captures Ashley & Vinny's relationship very well. Ashley gladly leading (directing) her little brother around, and Vinny complying (for a little while at least), with that little mischevious grin.

"Come on, Vinny!"

Ashley, Ashley, Ashley the Explorer!

We took the bus from one place to another on the Plantation.
Ashley especially liked riding in the back with Grandma. Our tentative Vinny was sometimes a little scared and held on for dear life.

We walked through the Sunken Forest one morning, with some really cool trees. There's a long stairway up to this crow's nest, with some very pretty views of the ocean and surrounding area.

We went to the Nature Center that day, too, and got to feed these (disgustingly) mossy turtles.

Grandma & Grandpa took this picture for us one morning, so we could know what the sunrise looked like, they said. Ha ha.

We went out for ice cream a couple of times. On this day, the ride looks like WAAAAAAY too much fun! Thankfully, I got to sit in the front because I was having a nauseous moment.

Who doesn't love ice cream? A LOT?!?

Especially when your big sissy even shares one of her last bites with you?

By the way, we're thinking of entering Vinny into the Biggest Mouth EVER contest. I think he'd win.

At the Dairy Queen, they had a little library, where the kids sat and read some books.

Here we are at the beginning of our bike rental adventure, before we got all sweaty, hungry, tired, and, yes, fell off one of the bikes with a child attached. Whoops! Don't worry, no one will be scarred for life.

We rode out to the marshes and took a little break:

Sisterly love. :)

Doesn't this look like the Microsoft desktop background?! Photo credit to Nick.

Yes, of course I'm taking a little snack break in this picture.

At the end of the bike ride, we had another incident, this time involving breaking the crossing arm while tailgating behind a car. Whoops again!

Nick & I enjoyed a night out one evening. We went out to a local pizza place and then found a state park to walk around in. There was a very long pedestrian bridge that crosses over a river, where some people were fishing. We hopped down off the bridge and walked along the "beach" there. It was so peaceful.

Photo props to my husband again. I think this is a beautiful picture.

And, here I am at 14 weeks pregnant. Not much of a belly shot yet. :)

We only braved the restaurants once for a night out with all of us. The kids enjoyed burnt grilled cheese sandwiches and Auntie's sunglasses.

A little more Auntie Love!

Hope you like this picture. It could make the cut for the Christmas card. ;)

What would a trip be without posed group shots?

We had a great trip!!! Thank you, G & G!